The Tamil Film Producers Council on Friday formally inducted and recognised the members of the Technicians Union, which was de-recognised by the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) recently.
Sources in the TFPC say that around 150 members from Technicians’ Union were recognised. The TFPC also underlined that this was not a ‘union’ and this was also not against FEFSI.
Producer S. R. Prabhu, treasurer, TFPC, underlined that they are not trying to take away jobs from any union or trying to form a new union. “Producers are here to make movies, not run unions. We are only recognising technicians and we will support it,” said Prabhu.
He added that while the outdoor shooting unit companies provide equipment and the producers rent out the equipment, the producers are asked to negotiate salaries with technicians through a union which operates independently.
“This is where the problem arises. They work completely independently. Every time, we reach a settlement, there are problems once again. So we have given ID cards to technicians who will work with companies that rent out equipment. The producers can directly pay the companies who will in turn pay the wages,” he said.
Confusing situation
A production executive working with a production house said that they had recently encountered a confusing situation as some technicians were ready to work for the newly worked out wages while majority of them refused. “It will reduce a lot of hassle for us to deal with companies directly. It is also better for technicians who are really talented because the really good technicians can in fact demand more from their companies,” he said. In the recent past, the Technicians Union was singled out by TFPC for wielding enormous clout and dictating the producers.
During the recent conflict between TFPC and FEFSI over wages, TFPC’s major grouse was with the manner in which members of the Technicians Union were even stopping shooting for films. TFPC also decided to revise much of the existing wage structure while shooting outside Chennai for the Technicians Union.
In a statement, the TFPC president actor Vishal extended full support to the members who decided to come out of the Technicians Union formerly affiliated to FEFSI.
